Ramen to go
by Pundit
Summary: [COMPLETED!!!] Touya, Shindo, Waya, and Yashiro go out to eat with some of Akira's classmates. But Touya gets flustered when he sees a girl flirting with Shindo...[slightly shonen-ai and foul language; I increased the rating because it's more intense now]
1. Stirrings

Note: ~ ~ flashback  
// // thoughts  
  
Touya Akira was sitting behind a goban, apparently in the midst of a game of  
  
shidougo, with a pained expression on his face. Across from him sat a girl with glossy  
  
shoulder length hair and rich almond-shaped eyes. The only word to describe her was  
  
beautiful. Standing huddled around them were about five other girls, who chattered  
  
incessantly each trying to capture the green haired boy's attention. Suddenly there was a  
  
loud thump as someone slammed the door open and entered the room. Thinking the  
  
disruption was yet another jealous boy from class, the girl looked up from the goban,  
  
agitation marring her nearly perfect features. But her face immediately softened when she  
  
saw standing in the doorway the slender, well muscled form of a boy who was most  
  
certainly not a student of the prestigious Haiosaki institute (the school had a very strict  
  
anti-dying policy, and the bleached blonde bangs that hung down across the boy's face  
  
were anything but natural).  
  
"Touya!" breathed the newcomer as he entered the room. "Finally! I've been  
  
looking for you all over this stupid building! Geeze! Who designed this place?" Shindo  
  
continued to ramble as he braced himself against the door frame, apparently oblivious to  
  
the hoard of girls grouped around his rival. Touya mentally rolled his eyes. He had told  
  
Shindo that if he wasn't outside by 2:30 that he could probably be found in room 537 on  
  
the fifth floor. It wasn't that hard to find, and Touya had even gone so far as to offer his  
  
friend directions, which Shindo had vehemently declined.  
  
~~Geeze! I don't need directions to get to a room! How big an idiot do you think I am,  
  
Touya?~~  
  
//Apparently I underestimated just how dumb you can be when you're away from a  
  
goban.// he thought to himself dryly as he remembered the conversation. It was hard,  
  
after all, to remember the depths of Shindo's stupidity when one was confronted by his  
  
immense brilliance over a go board on a regular basis. Touya sighed; he was going to  
  
have to be more careful about that in the future.  
  
"Oi, Shindo!" came a loud shout from the hallway. "What the hell is taking you  
  
so long?!?!" Two more boys were now standing behind the tired Hikaru, both with an  
  
annoyed expression on their faces.  
  
"Ahhhhh!!!" He yelled as he turned around to see his friends behind him. "How  
  
did you guys get here so fast?!?!"  
  
"What the do you mean 'so fast', baka?" Waya practically screamed his face red  
  
with anger. "We've been waiting for the past twenty minutes for you to go get the egg-  
  
head!" Waya wasn't so mad about having to wait for Shindo as he was about having to  
  
spend his Friday night with Touya Akira. The red head had never fully recovered from  
  
the blow to his ego the other pro had inflicted years ago; the fact that it was unintentional  
  
on Touya's part merely made it worse.  
  
"We took the stairs up to the fifth floor and then followed the signs to room 537.  
  
What did you do?" Yashiro, the boy beside Waya, asked knowingly.  
  
"Uhhh. I did the same thing. I just had to go to the bathroom and I made a  
  
wrong turn. It wasn't a big deal though..." the blond lied. Touya was about to go off  
  
on him for refusing the directions but thought better of it as he noticed Akane, the girl  
  
across from him, looking between Akira and his friend curiously.  
  
"Dude, you shouldn't lie. You're not good at it," Yashiro said bluntly. He had  
  
officially come to Tokyo this weekend to attend the go convention the next day, but his  
  
main reason was to visit his friends, which to Akira's surprise, he counted Touya among.  
  
"So, Touya, what's taking you so lo--" he began but as he looked up from his  
  
friend in the doorway to his other friend who was currently surrounded by a hoard of  
  
teenage schoolgirls, Yashiro took in the situation. "Oh," He finished lamely. Evidently  
  
Touya was something of a ladies' man. No wonder he actually wanted to go to high  
  
school.  
  
"Who are they, Touya-kun?" Akane asked innocently.  
  
"Oh, excuse me. Allow me to introduce my friends Shindo-kun, Waya- kun, and  
  
Yashiro-kun. They are go pros as well." Akira answered politely as he continued to  
  
introduce Akane and each one of her friends in turn.  
  
"So, Touya, are you coming or not?" Shindo asked in the brash manner that only  
  
he could get away with. He was horribly impolite but he was so oblivious to his own  
  
rudeness and it was so unintentional that he wasn't actually offensive. usually.  
  
"Um... of course. I'm sorry ladies, but I'll have to finish this some other  
  
time," Touya said without any hint of emotion. The truth was that the boy was so relieved  
  
he did not trust himself to say more. These girls were harder to get rid of than the plague,  
  
especially Akane. She, being the undisputedly most desirable girl in class, had refused to  
  
accept Touya's blatant rejections (or as blatant as Touya was willing to get) of her  
  
advances. Consequently not only had Akira become the most hated guy among the male  
  
student population, but Akane had also been shadowing him at school for quite some  
  
time now and he was always unduly relieved to get away from her.  
  
"Oh? Where are you guys going?" she asked brightly.  
  
"To get some Ramen!" Hikaru replied almost at once, his eyes glimmering with  
  
excitement. The boy had an unnaturally strong fetish for ramen.  
  
"No not ramen again! I'm not doing it! We're going to get sushi!" Waya retorted.  
  
"No way! Ramen!" Shindo shouted back. The two ended up resolving the issue  
  
with a game of rock-paper-scissors......... which they had to repeat due to a dispute over  
  
whether Shindo's hand was 'paper' or 'scissors (during this time Touya valiantly resisted  
  
the urge to slap their heads against the wall and Yashiro stared at his two friends, left  
  
completely speechless by yet another stunning display of their idiocy).  
  
"Alright! Ramen!" Hikaru shouted triumphantly as a mumbling Waya dejectedly  
  
shoved his hands into his pockets.  
  
"Oh! I love Ramen!" Akane said once the issue had been resolved.  
  
"Yeah! Ramen's great!" he replied happily.  
  
"Can we come too?"  
  
"Absolutely!" Yashiro practically shouted. He was stuck going to an all boy's  
  
high school and he wasn't about to miss a chance to hang out with some girls. Especially  
  
if they were pretty. Touya sighed. He had been counting on Hikaru to grow impatient and  
  
come up to the room to retrieve him. The loud and obliviously rude pro was almost  
  
certain to repel the aggressive advances of Akane and her friends. But Akira had  
  
forgotten to take into account that Hikaru was a complete and utterly hopeless ronin. And  
  
while Shindo might be oblivious to Akane's advancements, Waya and Yashiro definitely  
  
weren't.  
  
//But at least she doesn't seem to be hanging all over me anymore// he thought to  
  
himself as he and the rest of their group sat down at the table. But for some reason this  
  
thought caused a hard knot to form in his stomach. Yashiro and Waya were at the other  
  
end of the table talking and laughing with the other three girls Sumire, Sey, and Urami.  
  
Akane had now decided to attach herself to Shindo and she sat next to him in the booth,  
  
pushing herself far closer than necessary; making needless movements that caused her to  
  
brush up against him. Touya tried his best to ignore them and focus on his conversation  
  
with Maho, the girl to his left, who apparently found the many different shades lipsticks  
  
to be profoundly symbolic of the plight of the modern man.  
  
"Oh, wow! You're hair is so soft! I think guys who bleach their hair always look  
  
so cool!" he heard Akane saying as she reached up to stroke Hikaru's hair.  
  
"Um, yeah wel... I jusf like' the way it lookef. I hafen' changef my hair style  
  
in 'ears though," he replied between mouthfuls. The meal continued like this for quite  
  
some time as Akane continued to flirt more and more boldly with Hikaru and Touya grew  
  
more and more agitated. He wasn't even fully conscious of his own discomfort but  
  
periodically he found himself staring intently at the two. But he would soon realize this  
  
and embarrassedly turn his attention back to Maho and her chattering.  
  
It wasn't that Touya thought Shindo didn't flirt with girls, it was just that he had  
  
never actually witnessed it before. For some reason the thought of Hikaru being suave  
  
and cool had never even entered Touya's mind (not that he was being suave or cool now  
  
either, it was just that Akane seemed to think he was).  
  
It was as the meal ended that Akira nearly lost his composure.  
  
"Oh! I'm sooooo sorry! Here, let me help you wipe it up," Akane said as her  
  
elbow 'slipped' spilling orange soda all over Shindo's lap and she proceeded to get a  
  
napkin from the table. Not being able to stand the sight any longer an angry, red-faced  
  
Touya stood up so quickly that he knocked the chair over, placed his money on the table,  
  
and without another word exited the building, leaving his now gaping friends behind.  
  
Akira slammed his fist against the red brick of the King Mart, a block away from  
  
the restaurant. Why the hell was he so upset? It's not like he cared what Akane and  
  
Shindo did anyway. But still..... but still he couldn't deny that his heart had nearly  
  
exploded in his chest when he saw her touching his rival... there. Just the thought of  
  
it made Touya's cheeks flush. Damn it! What was going on with him?!?!  
  
"Oi! Touya! Where are you?!?!" Shindo's voice filled the crowded street. He  
  
couldn't handle this right now. He didn't want to talk to anyone; especially not Hikaru.  
  
Quickly Akira hailed a taxi and went home.  
  
***Please please PLEASE tell me what you think. If you think it sucks and that I should be bludgeoned to death with a blunt object for writing this, please tell me why. This is my first fanfic, hikago or otherwise, and I'd really like some feedback. Thanks! **** 


	2. On Bach & Manga

"What's this? Beethoven?" Yashiro asked, shooting his friend an incredulous  
  
look as he riffled through the box of CDs under the bed. He had spent the night at  
  
Shindo's house sleeping on an old, moth-eaten futon and he was currently trying to find  
  
some music to play on the stereo in his friend's room since he had forgotten to bring his  
  
own CD case.  
  
"Oh, yeah! Touya let me burn a couple of his CDs," Shindo replied lightly as his  
  
head hung upside-down from the bed. "I think I like Bach better though." He mused. He  
  
would have said more except for the surprised and incredibly amused look on his friend's  
  
face. "What?" he asked, completely baffled.  
  
"It's just that you don't seem like the kind of guy who'd like classical music."  
  
Yashiro said as he scanned the many stickers on Hikaru's furniture, none of which said  
  
'Bach'. He was trying to keep a straight face but the effort resulted in a pained kind of  
  
expression that Shindo had once seen on a man in the movie 'Alien' just before  
  
something hatched inside his stomach.  
  
"And what 'kind of guy' listens to classical music?" he asked indignantly.  
  
"Guys like Touya. You know, the smart kind" Yashiro answered with a mild trace  
  
of amusement in his voice.  
  
"Shut up, baka!" Hikaru yelled as he flung a pillow in his friend's face.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
An hour later a pair of teenage boys dressed in crisply pressed suits waited  
  
patiently in line as they prepared to enter the bus that would take them to the Mosaki  
  
Center in downtown Tokyo.  
  
"So are we meeting Waya and Touya before the convention starts?" Yashiro  
  
asked as he and Hikaru paid the fare and took their seats.  
  
"Waya's helping his sensei set up so he's already at the center, but yesterday  
  
Touya said he'd meet us at the front entrance fifteen minutes before we're supposed to be  
  
there," Hikaru replied.  
  
Yesterday - --  
  
Yesterday Touya had said that but it was before he stormed out of the restaurant.  
  
Would he still show up like they'd planned? Hikaru was worried, but this was Touya.  
  
Blowing Shindo and Yashiro off would be rude and Touya Akira was never rude.. but  
  
then again... getting up and leaving in the middle of a meal without a word wasn't  
  
exactly polite. Touya... What was the matter with him? Shindo had tried to find  
  
him after he left so suddenly but Akane was busy trying to sop up the mess she had made  
  
and she had gotten in his way. He had looked up and down the street for at least ten  
  
minutes before he finally gave up and went back inside.  
  
"Geeze, what was up with Touya yesterday? He just kind of freaked out," Shindo  
  
mumbled softly as he stared out the window.  
  
"Yeah, well his girlfriend was hitting on you. What do you expect?"  
  
"Huh? What are you talking about, Yashiro?" Hikaru asked startled, turning his  
  
attention away from the window for the first time since they had boarded the bus to stare  
  
at his friend. He seemed genuinely puzzled by the comment  
  
"That Akane girl was all over you last night," Yashiro said, shocked by his  
  
friend's naivety.  
  
"No way! The girl's just a spaz," Hikaru replied, dismissing the comment with a  
  
wave of his hand. Yashiro shrugged. There was no use arguing with a man in denial . or  
  
an idiot for that matter, and it was becoming increasingly clear that Shindo fit into at least  
  
one of these categories (although which, Yashiro was not yet certain). Hikaru turned his  
  
attention back to the window. "And besides Touya doesn't have a girlfriend," he said  
  
softly after a long moment, almost to himself.  
  
"That's not what it looked like to me in the classroom," the other pro muttered  
  
dryly. Hikaru made no reply but continued to stare out the window. Was it possible?  
  
Could Touya have gotten so upset because he thought Hikaru was flirting with his  
  
girlfriend? No. Yashiro was wrong. Touya didn't have a girlfriend, he was sure of it.  
  
Over the past few years the two rivals had steadily become good friends and if Akira did  
  
have a relationship like that it definitely would have come up in conversation by now.  
  
Although, Touya and Shindo rarely ever discussed girls. Mostly they talked about music,  
  
friends, books, ramen and - of course - go. It had never seemed odd that girls hadn't  
  
come up in their conversations before, but perhaps Shindo didn't know his friend as well  
  
as he thought he did.  
  
But ... even if Touya did have a girlfriend somewhere Shindo seriously  
  
doubted he was dating Akane. She just wasn't Touya's type... not that Touya  
  
actually had a type. But it was difficult to picture the stoic go-fanatic becoming involved  
  
with someone like her.  
  
Not that Akane wasn't nice. She was, after all, kind enough to spend the night  
  
talking with Shindo since Touya and the rest of his friends had apparently forgotten that  
  
he existed. But - and there was no kind way to say this - the girl was a klutz. During the  
  
course of one meal she had managed to bump into him continuously, knock her elbows  
  
against his while they ate, and she even spilled soda all over his lap. It just wasn't  
  
possible that Akira would like a girl like that. Besides, Touya had spent the entire night  
  
engrossed with that Maho girl (and it wasn't because she was entertaining. unless  
  
Touya had grown a sudden interest in cosmetics). The green haired pro had his eyes  
  
glued on her the entire time; he had practically been drooling. This thought made Shindo  
  
clench his fists in anger. Akira had no right to get mad at Hikaru for simply talking with  
  
one of his classmates while Touya himself was busy flirting with some other girl. If he  
  
had a problem with Shindo and Akane talking, he could have just joined in the  
  
conversation instead of staring at Maho.  
  
"Oi, Shindo!" Yashiro's yell violently knocked Hikaru out of his stupor. "Are you  
  
coming or not?" he asked in annoyance. Apparently the bus had already made its way to  
  
the center and Yashiro was waiting impatiently for his friend to get off it.  
  
"Oh yeah! Sure," Hikaru managed to cry as he recovered from his daze. He had a  
  
few things he wanted to say to Touya when he saw him....  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Touya Akira was waiting at the front entrance just as he had promised. He had  
  
almost decided not to show up, the image of Akane and Hikaru still fresh in his mind. But  
  
Yashiro was not in Tokyo that often and he was one of Touya's few friends close to his  
  
age. He sighed. He didn't know why he had gotten so upset the night before and he really  
  
didn't want to think about it either.  
  
Touya looked at his watch. It was 11:45 and the convention started at noon.  
  
Technically he was right on time, but since he was meeting Hikaru he had more than  
  
enough time to kill before his friends showed up. Being careful that no one was paying  
  
attention to him, Akira put down his brief case (which he sometimes brought to these  
  
conventions to carry potentially useful kifu and... ) and cautiously took out his copy  
  
of 'One Piece'. He smiled to himself. He wasn't really into manga but Shindo had lent  
  
him a copy of his Shonen Jump, -- which Touya had reluctantly accepted after his friend  
  
badgered him incessantly for a solid week-- and he couldn't help but become a fan of the  
  
story (although he refused to give Shindo the satisfaction of knowing he had been right.  
  
God only knew how long the bleached haired boy would gloat if he ever found out.) He  
  
sighed happily as he opened the book. He had at least another ten minutes until Shindo  
  
arrived.  
  
Unfortunately for Akira, he had forgotten to calculate the 'Yashiro factor' into his  
  
estimation. The other, and far more responsible, pro had dragged Shindo out of the house  
  
by 11:10 giving them enough time to catch the 11:15 bus into Tokyo. Which, to Touya's  
  
later dismay, meant that for once Shindo Hikaru actually showed up on time.  
  
"Hey, Touya! Whatcha got there?" Hikaru said, grinning madly as he spotted the  
  
manga in his rival's hand. All thoughts of confronting Akira about the previous night  
  
were now erased from his mind in light of this unexpected victory. Touya groaned as he  
  
cursed himself inwardly. "I knew you'd like it!" Shindo said proudly, as he plopped  
  
down beside his friend. "You really should listen to me more often, it'd save us all a lot  
  
of time!" Akira sighed as he quickly put his manga away. Shindo smiled.  
  
"Shindo-kun, Yashiro-kun. How are you both?" Akira asked politely.  
  
"Good, good. We're both fine Touya," Hikaru answered, waving a hand in  
  
annoyance. "Geeze, why are you always so formal?" Akira didn't have anything to say to  
  
this; instead he stuck out his tongue.  
  
"Wow this place is crowded!" Yashiro said loudly, hoping to avoid the verbal  
  
sparring match that was threatening to take place. "It's too bad this is the last convention  
  
I can go to for a while" the pro said sadly.  
  
"Aren't you coming to the National Japanese Go Conference next week?" Touya  
  
asked in surprise.  
  
"No, my parents won't let me take off school for the week. I was lucky that I even  
  
got to go to this convention." Hikaru always felt sorry for Yashiro whenever the other  
  
boy began talking about his parents. Shindo often took his mother's support for granted  
  
and he couldn't help feeling guilty about it at times like these. He silently gave thanks for  
  
having such supportive, although hopelessly unskilled, parents.  
  
"We should head inside," Yashiro said after a moment. He hated people feeling  
  
sorry for him, and he hated feeling sorry for himself even more. Touya nodded,  
  
understanding his friend's feelings and led the way into the building.  
  
Akira was pleasantly surprised to see the immense volume and variety of different  
  
people who had turned out for the convention. The center really was crowded and it was  
  
virtually impossible to move around without running into somebody else. With this in  
  
mind Akira, with Hikaru and Yashiro following behind him, carefully began to navigate  
  
his way through the throng of people.  
  
Suddenly, a large woman in a purple dress bumped into Touya, bouncing the boy  
  
nearly two feet back with the force of her girth straight into Hikaru who, as usual, wasn't  
  
fully paying attention to his surroundings. The two boys toppled over in a heap on floor  
  
as the woman, unaware of her own actions, proceeded to make her way through the hall.  
  
"Uuugh... " Akira groaned, rubbing his head. He had fallen backwards when  
  
the woman had run into him and he had hit the floor forcefully. Fortunately though,  
  
something soft had broken his fall. That something, unbeknownst to him, happened to be  
  
his best friend, Shindo Hikaru. Still dazed from the incident Akira tried to balance  
  
himself, but ground seemed to writhe beneath him.  
  
Hikaru had not been so lucky during the encounter. One moment he was walking  
  
behind Touya and the next he was on his back, pressed against the hard cold ground.  
  
Disoriented he lay on the floor, not sure of where he was. The only thing he was aware of  
  
was a wiggling pressure near his abdomen that sent a pleasant wave through his body  
  
with every passing second.  
  
"Uuugh... " Hikaru groaned as he opened his eyes, which quickly widened  
  
as he realized it was Akira who lay on top of him. "Uugh! Touya!" he exclaimed in  
  
surprise "Get the hell off of me!"  
  
"Huh?" a slightly confused Akira grunted as he rolled off his rival. "Shindo?  
  
What happened?"  
  
"Hahahahahaha!!!" they heard a laugh swell over the constant murmur of the  
  
crowd. "Oh my God! That was so great!" Yashiro cried, buckling over as tears began to  
  
form in the corners of his eyes. "There was a fat lady, and... and..... " That was  
  
as much as he could manage to get out before he was completely overcome by laughter.  
  
"Well I'm glad it amused someone," Akira remarked, having quickly regained his  
  
composure as he meticulously brushed off the dirt and dust that had come in contact with  
  
his new suit. Shindo, who was also standing now, remained uncharacteristically quiet  
  
though and his face was a brilliant shade of red as he stared off into space.  
  
"Shindo, are you alright?" Akira asked, his voice marked with concern. Realizing  
  
there was something wrong, he put his hand on his friend's arm in an attempt to capture  
  
his attention. Hikaru tensed as he felt the hand on his arm and he became aware of a mild  
  
tingling sensation that began coursing through it.  
  
"Sure! I'm fine!" he exclaimed, turning around so quickly that Touya's hand was  
  
flung from its position. "Uh.... wellIbettergettomystationsoonorI'llbelate! Oh!  
  
Ihavetogohomerightafterwardstoo, it'smymom'sbirthdaysoshesaidIshouldbehomeearly!  
  
Well,bye!" Hikaru quickly issued out a string of nearly incomprehensible words as he ran  
  
off into the crowd.  
  
"He's a weird guy," Yashiro said matter-of-factly as he watched the blonde pro  
  
disappear into the crowd.  
  
"You have no idea." Akira replied.  
  
*** Thanks so much to all those who had enough patience to read and review this thing. I really appreciate the feedback. But um... I have no idea where I'm going with this. *frustrated* Sorry. Anyway, PLEASE R&R!!!! Thanks 3 *** 


	3. The Convention

A week later .......  
  
Hikaru smiled in anticipation as he stepped off the train and onto the platform. He  
  
had waited an entire year for this convention and he was planning on enjoying every  
  
second of it. The annual National Japanese Go Conference had only begun five years  
  
ago but it was already the biggest Go event in Japan. This year the convention was being  
  
held in Hiroshima's Regency Hotel, one of the nicest in the country. Still grinning Shindo  
  
picked up his bags and hurriedly made his way to the taxi queue, he was already late and  
  
didn't have any time to waste. Touya said he was going to come again this year, and the  
  
blonde haired boy was looking forward to playing his rival as much as possible this week.  
  
Touya.....  
  
Hikaru blushed as he remembered the incident the week before, and quickly  
  
willed the blood that had spread to his cheeks to go away. It was an accident. A simple  
  
accident. It meant nothing. Anyone would have reacted that way, feeling another person  
  
moving against their lap. It didn't mean anything. He shook his head, emptying his mind  
  
of the unwanted thoughts. He was here to play go.  
  
As the taxi slowly made its way through the crowded streets of Hiroshima Shindo  
  
felt his heart beating with excitement. Isumi, Waya, Kadowaki, Honda, Nase,  
  
Fuku.... And Touya ... All those pros in one place. It was going to be a great  
  
week. They only had to work for five hours a day, the rest of the time was their own. Plus  
  
if Shindo and Touya were assigned to the same shift, they could play almost the entire  
  
day if they wanted. Hikaru smiled again in anticipation as the cab slowed to a halt in front  
  
of the large marble building that had Regency Hotel etched above its entrance in large  
  
delicate golden letters.  
  
Through the glass doors he could see his friends Isumi and Waya talking  
  
animatedly to one another in the hotel lobby. Hikaru quickly paid the driver the fee and  
  
entered the building.  
  
" --- great match! I had to see the kifu to believe it. Damn I hate that guy!  
  
Everything comes so easily to him!" Shindo heard Waya complain as he approached his  
  
two friends. Isumi nudged the red head as Hikaru approached.  
  
"Hey whatcha guys talking about?" he asked as he set his bags down on  
  
the floor.  
  
"Touya's match against Kurata 8-dan," Isumi answered pleasantly, still eying  
  
Waya to make sure he didn't say anything offensive. The red head hated Touya but  
  
Hikaru was friends with both of them. Shindo usually didn't notice or at least pretended  
  
not to notice the angry remarks his friend occasionally made about the green haired  
  
prodigy. But still, it wasn't fair to make Shindo listen to one friend berate another.  
  
"You're late again," Waya said as a way of greeting. The blonde boy smiled  
  
slightly.  
  
"Yeah, I over slept a little," he explained nonchalantly.  
  
"A little? You were supposed to be here two hours ago, idiot!" his friend scolded.  
  
Isumi sighed. Waya wasn't much for tact. But then again neither was Shindo.  
  
"Geeze, relax! The convention doesn't start until tomorrow! Today's just for  
  
registering anyway! Calm down, Waya," came the reply. "So, who're your roommates?"  
  
Hikaru asked excitedly, changing the topic.  
  
"Fuku," Waya answered.  
  
"Honda," his other friend replied.  
  
"Oh? That's too bad," Hikaru said, a note of disappointment lingering on his  
  
voice. "It was great bunking together last year,"  
  
"...Yeah ....." Isumi said, smiling wanly. Last year he and Hikaru had  
  
been assigned the same hotel room, which had seemed great at first. They were good  
  
friends, after all. But unfortunately for Isumi, Touya and Hikaru refused to end their  
  
rivalry when the convention did, and consequently they played go every night together  
  
until one of them fell asleep at the goban. Which wouldn't have been so bad... if it  
  
weren't for their infamous post- game 'discussions' which inevitably turned into an all  
  
out verbal war. Isumi winced at the memory. He gotten three nights of sleep that week  
  
and he had only been able to get that much because, thankfully, the two pros rotated  
  
whose room they played in each night. It was hell. He had even gone so far as to make a  
  
complaint to the organization committee, which he still felt a little guilty about (except  
  
for the fact that he was assured that he would never be forced to bunk with Hikaru  
  
again ... EVER). Apparently Touya's roommate had made the same complaint too  
  
though, so he didn't feel quite so bad about it.  
  
"So, who's my roommate this year?" the blonde haired boy asked, looking around  
  
for the registration desk.  
  
"I am," came a voice behind him, causing Hikaru to nearly fall over in surprise.  
  
"Geeze, Touya!" the boy yelled, clutching his chest "Stop sneaking up on people  
  
like that, baka!" Akira rolled his eyes at the robust and slightly obnoxious boy who had  
  
somehow become his friend.  
  
"Hello, Shindo-kun" the man standing next to his rival said brightly. "Nice to see  
  
you."  
  
What was his name again? Ashitaka? Akuwara?  
  
"Hello," Hikaru replied after having recovered from his shock.  
  
"Ashiwara and I are going out for dinner." Touya announced coolly.  
  
Ashiwara! That was it!  
  
"Get the key at the front desk. It's room 5179." He continued as he and the other  
  
man made their way towards the exit.  
  
"Huh?" Hikaru asked dumbly.  
  
"Room 5179," the green haired boy repeated and without turning around he left  
  
the hotel.  
  
"God I hate that guy!" Waya fumed. "Did you see how he just ignored us?"  
  
"He didn't mean anything by it. It's just Touya," the blonde defended. Waya  
  
clenched his fists in frustration but, to his credit, didn't say anything more.  
  
"We're meeting Fuku, Honda, and Nase here in a few minutes to go out for dinner.  
  
Hurry up and put your bags away," Isumi instructed his friend.  
  
"Oh yeah, sure," and without another word Shindo left to retrieve his key.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Hikaru yawned. He had been assigned the morning shift from 8 in the morning to  
  
12:30 in the afternoon while Waya, Isumi, Fuku and Touya were all scheduled for the  
  
later shift that lasted form 1 o'clock to 6:30. He was supposed to meet Nase for breakfast  
  
but he was already half an hour late, he probably didn't even have time to pick up a quick  
  
bagel before he had to be at his station. Hurrying he took the elevator to the second  
  
floor where the convention was being held. His stomach grumbled loudly and Hikaru  
  
groaned. He wasn't a morning person to begin with and now he was going to have to play  
  
shidougo for the next five hours on an empty stomach. Looking down at his feet grumpily  
  
as he shoved his hands into his pockets, Shindo exited the elevator. He stopped quickly  
  
though when he looked up at the entrance of the hall that served as the conference site.  
  
Touya Akira stood next to the large mahogany doors holding a poppy seed bagel,  
  
deep in discussion with Hikaru's friend Nase. He had noticed Touya wasn't in the hotel  
  
room when he woke up but he didn't have the time to wonder about it.  
  
"Hey, Touya! Whatcha doin' here?" he asked brightly when he saw his rival  
  
standing at the door. "Your shift doesn't start until one, right?"  
  
"I woke up at seven this morning and I have nothing better to do so....."  
  
The green haired boy shrugged absently. Hikaru suppressed a grin. It would be nice  
  
having his friend hang around while he was working. Nase glared at him.  
  
"Finally woke up, eh?" She asked accusingly. Shindo paled, Nase could be scary  
  
when she was mad.  
  
"Um, haha! I was up late last night playing go with Touya and..." He began  
  
but clearly his excuse was having no effect on Nase's temper.  
  
"I waited for you for ten minutes before Touya-san told me you were still sleeping  
  
and that I should go in before I missed breakfast!" she shouted. "He was up just as late as  
  
you were too, and he didn't have any trouble waking up either!" Hikaru shrank. If Touya  
  
had woken up so damn early he could have at least gotten Shindo up with him. As if  
  
reading his thoughts Akira looked over at him  
  
"I'm not your mother," he said flatly.  
  
"Did I say anything?" Shindo snapped back  
  
"No, but you were thinking it," the other boy mumbled.  
  
"Are you listening to me Shindo?!?!" Nase yelled.  
  
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Geeze!" the blonde haired boy exclaimed. "It'll never  
  
happen again! I promise!"  
  
"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep," Touya replied. Shindo gave him  
  
his most imposing 'you-better-shut-up-if-you-know-what's-good-for-you' glare but it  
  
was wasted because just in the middle of it his stomach growled loudly, taking away from  
  
the effect. Akira sighed.  
  
"Do you want my bagel?" he offered, extending his hand.  
  
"Don't- -- don't you want it?" Hikaru asked hesitantly.  
  
"This'll be my second one so I'm fine." Came the reply. Hikaru just stared at the  
  
bagel, trying to decide. Akira sighed heavily again. "Do you want it or not?!" he asked  
  
irritably as he began to retract his arm.  
  
"I'm taking it! I'm taking it! Geeze!" the blonde exclaimed as he quickly snatched  
  
the bagel from his rival's hand before he could change his mind again. "Thankf" he said,  
  
biting into it greedily. Poppy seed was his favorite. Though he had never seen Akira eat  
  
one before. He had always just assumed he didn't like them.  
  
"You eat poppy seed bagels, Touya?" Hikaru asked as he walked into the hall  
  
with his friends. Akira's cheeks turned a pale pink.  
  
"Sometimes," he replied.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Hikaru sighed as the tried to explain for the umpteenth time the problem on the  
  
board to the girl across from him. He loved coming to this convention, mainly because it  
  
was a chance to see all his friends, but sometimes he really hated shidougo. It wasn't so  
  
bad teaching the older men who wandered to his station, they at least paid attention.  
  
"So you moved here when it really would have been better to go there," he said  
  
pointing to an empty space on the goban. He looked up at the girl, who wasn't paying the  
  
least bit of attention to the board. She was looking at him with this dazed expression on  
  
her face. "Do you understand?" he asked her slowly. He wasn't sure if she was ill or just  
  
stupid.  
  
"Huh?" she replied, startled.  
  
"Do you understand?" he repeated, slower this time.  
  
"Oh, yes! Yes I see!" she answered, blushing furiously. She obviously had no idea  
  
what he was talking about. Hikaru sighed again and found himself thinking almost  
  
wistfully about Akari. She at least listened to him when he spoke. Shindo had begun to  
  
cringe inwardly every time a girl walked by in the convention hall. For the past few years  
  
he had been besieged by the teenaged girls who flocked to the go conventions yet seemed  
  
to have absolutely no skill and even less interest in acquiring any //Why the do they  
  
bother to come here if they don't want to play go?!// he wondered irritably as he  
  
continued the lesson with his dimwitted client. Shindo seemed to have some the worst  
  
luck. Still, he couldn't feel too sorry for himself. Isumi was usually swamped by them too  
  
and Touya had it at least just as bad as Hikaru did.  
  
//Where is he anyway?// he wondered to himself, craning his head to scan the  
  
large hall. Akira had said he needed to go to the bathroom and asked him to take over his  
  
station. That was at 6:15 and it was nearly a half past six now. //Oh well... it's  
  
almost over anyway I guess it doesn't make a difference anymore// he thought to  
  
himself bitterly. He was doing Touya a favor and he just blew him off? The chime that  
  
signaled the end of the session rang.  
  
"We can still continue if you want," he said to the girl across from him. It was  
  
common courtesy, after all, but mentally he was banging his head against the table.  
  
"Oh, that's okay," she stammered, "but I- -- I was.. uh hoping maybe that  
  
um.. You might..., th-- that is to say.... that I was uh... thinking you might  
  
want to -- "  
  
"Well maybe I'll see you tomorrow, then!" Hikaru beamed brightly, cutting her  
  
off. He was already clearing off the goban with such haste the girl across from him was  
  
struck speechless. It wasn't until he had already left his seat and disappeared into the  
  
crowd that her wits came back to her. She sighed morosely.  
  
"Oi, Touya!" Shindo cried out angrily when he had finally spotted the green  
  
haired boy in the crowd. He was talking with a short older man, pinned against the wall  
  
in the corner. Seeing this, it wasn't very hard to guess what had kept him so long. Akira  
  
never was good at keeping his fans at bay. Hikaru sighed. He was going to have to save  
  
him .....again. When would the boy grow a backbone and tell people to shut up  
  
and get away? Shindo smiled absently to himself. That just wasn't in Akira's nature. He  
  
was just too polite for his own good. Oh well.  
  
"Touya!" he yelled loudly as he approached his friend trapped between the wall  
  
and the pudgy bald man. "You ready to go?" he asked boisterously. He almost burst out  
  
laughing at the look of sheer relief that swept onto his rival's face.  
  
"Oh, oh yes," Touya replied. "I'm sorry I have to go, it was nice meeting with you  
  
though" but his words were lost when the smaller man cried out:  
  
"Shindo Hikaru?!?!"  
  
"Huh?" the blonde said, taken aback.  
  
"I knew it! I knew I had seen Shindo Hikaru here earlier!" the bald man  
  
exclaimed. By now Hikaru was completely confused.  
  
"Do I...do I know you?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, no! No! I'm sorry! My name is Saitou! Nice to meet you!" he said as he  
  
grabbed Hikaru's hand and shook it vigorously.  
  
"Uh.."  
  
"I'm a huge fan of yours and Touya-sensei's," he explained, gaining his  
  
composure.  
  
"Oh," the blonde replied, glancing over at Touya for help. The green haired boy  
  
looked mortified. This wasn't working out at all.  
  
"Would you like to come get drinks with me?" Saitou-san asked hopefully.  
  
"Drinks," Hikaru stammered. The short little man's head bobbed rapidly, a smile  
  
spread across his face. Hikaru had never met anyone who was so excited to see him  
  
before. People knew who he was of course, but between his boisterous personality and  
  
his disregard for formalities he was rarely put into this kind of situation.  
  
"Um, we're only 17" Akira replied politely.  
  
"That's alright!" Saitou cried waving his hand dismissively in the air. "There's a  
  
bar a couple of blocks from here that doesn't ask you any questions!" Akira gave his  
  
friend a dubious look and was about to decline the invitation when:  
  
"Yeah, sure!" Hikaru exclaimed. "Why not?" It took all the self- control Touya  
  
had at his disposal not to slap his friend across the back of the head. He could think of  
  
fifty different reasons 'why not'.  
  
"No thank you," he said after a long moment. "I'm not much for drinking."  
  
Hikaru looked disgusted.  
  
"What do you mean you're 'not much for drinking'?" he asked incredulously.  
  
"I meant just what I said," came the reply.  
  
"Come on, Touya!" Hikaru whined. "Live a little."  
  
"Well, if Touya-sensei doesn't want to come the two of us can still go," Saitou-  
  
san broke in, sounding somewhat unhappy.  
  
"Alright," Shindo said after a long moment, sounding slightly disappointed. Akira  
  
couldn't help but feel a little surprised. For some reason he had expected Hikaru to  
  
decline once he had. "See you back at the room," the blonde said as he and the little man  
  
made their way to the exit. Touya sighed. He didn't trust Shindo to behave when he was  
  
sober, let alone when he was drunk.  
  
"On second thought, I think I will come with you" he said, catching up to the  
  
group.  
  
"Great!" Shindo said, smiling so happily that Akira couldn't help but smile back.  
  
Oh well, at least this way he would stay out of trouble.  
  
***** Yep. That's right. I did it. I put them in the same hotel room. And you know what? I'd do it again too! I know it's not the most creative scenario in the world but this is my first fanfic so cut me some slack *_- Um, also I know some of the things that happened in this chapter may have seemed a little contrived and a bit forced and that's because they probably were. You see, funny story, I accidentally wrote the fifth chapter before I wrote the third and fourth ones (the 4th is still in the works) *nervous laughter* so I had to force some stuff in. ~seriously, don't ask me how I did that, I still don't know the answer~ Ok well please R&R!!! BYE**** 


	4. Long Island Iced Tea

"No thank you, I don't drink sake" Akira said politely as Saitou-san offered him a  
  
cup. Touya didn't have a high alcohol tolerance, which he had recently discovered the  
  
previous New Years when Ogata-san had given him a glass of sake. Even watered down  
  
it didn't take very long for the young pro to become very VERY drunk. Just thinking  
  
about the incident made him flush with embarrassment.  
  
"Oh you don't like sake, Touya-sensei?" Saitou asked curiously.  
  
"No, not very much I'm afraid," he said, still being polite.  
  
"Oh come on, Touya! You're so uptight! Have some fun!" Hikaru scolded as he  
  
motioned Saitou to fill his cup.  
  
"No, I'd rather just drink tea," he answered.  
  
"Then why did you come hear anyway?" Shindo yelled.  
  
"Because you asked me to come, baka!" came the reply, no longer polite.  
  
"Yeah, I asked you to come out and have some fun!" the blonde haired boy  
  
shouted heatedly. Saitou-san was getting nervous. He had heard stories about the  
  
monumental fights these two could have, he hadn't believed them though when he saw  
  
the two go prodigies in the hall that afternoon joking and laughing like old friends. But  
  
Saitou was beginning to fear that there was some truth to those rumors after all as the two  
  
pros continued their childish bickering. People were starting to stare.  
  
"That's okay!" The little bald man broke in just as Shindo was about to make  
  
some obscene comment. "I'm just happy that Touya-sensei was willing to come with us  
  
at all!" he said, patting the long haired boy on the shoulder. Shindo opened his mouth but  
  
quickly closed it as he saw the desperate look on the older man's face. Why did Touya  
  
have to be so damn stubborn all the time anyway? It was just sake, it wasn't like anyone  
  
was going to get drunk. After all, Hikaru had to work the next morning, he was a  
  
professional too. All he had really wanted to do in the first place was relax and have some  
  
fun with Touya. And that moron was ruining it. If he was going to act like this he  
  
shouldn't have come at all, and Shindo was just about to tell him so. But....  
  
Saitou-san seemed so desperate.... Folding his arms across his chest the blonde  
  
boy grunted, slouched back into his seat, and stared at the wall: a ritual Akira had come  
  
to recognize over the years as Shindo's way of admitting defeat. A slight smile played at  
  
the corners of Touya's mouth; he had won.  
  
"Here you are, Touya-sensei," the bald man said as he handed Akira a tall glass  
  
nearly over flowing with ice and a dark brown liquid. Apparently the older man had  
  
ordered something from the bar while Akira and Hikaru were arguing.  
  
"What is that?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
"It's tea, just like you wanted," Saitou said. Touya sighed. He hadn't meant he  
  
wanted iced tea, but if he said anything now Shindo would have an aneurism right there  
  
in the bar.  
  
"Thank you very much," the green haired boy replied as he accepted the drink.  
  
Hikaru was still slouched in his seat, pouting as he watched his friend take his first sip.  
  
"Are you sure this is iced tea, Saitou-san?" Akira asked. "It doesn't taste like any  
  
thing I've ever had before."  
  
"Oh, well it's ...... from Long Island," the little man replied, flashing  
  
Akira a grin. "It's an American drink, I thought you would like it." Touya stirred the  
  
glass in his hands as he took another cautious sip; it wasn't half bad.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Four hours and eight long Island Ice Teas later, Touya was drunk. By now the bar  
  
had grown crowded and noisy. Shindo and Akira had divided into two separate groups  
  
hours ago, Hikaru going up to the bar to talk sports with the bartender and Akira chosing  
  
to instead to at a table with Saitou-san and his friends. It was starting to get late and  
  
Shindo, having stopped himself after four cups of watered down sake was ready to go  
  
back to the hotel. Getting up to tell Akira he was leaving, he made his way to the table in  
  
the back of the bar. He was surprised, to say the least, to see his usually very serious  
  
friend sitting in the corner with a napkin on his head and a stupid grin spread across his  
  
face.  
"What's the matter with him?" he asked Saitou-san anxiously, who by now was  
  
also very drunk.  
  
"Oh, him?" he asked, slurring the question. "Nothing's the matter with him! He's  
  
just had a few too.... A few tooooooo many iced teas! Haha!" Hikaru didn't  
  
understand. Iced tea did not make people act like that.  
  
"But it's just iced tea," he said, confused.  
  
"No, no, no! It's from Looong Iiiissland!" the little man said, shaking his finger at  
  
Hikaru. "Long Iiiiisland iced tea is the best!" Shindo paled as he put two and two  
  
together. 'Long Island Iced Tea' wasn't just 'iced tea'. He slapped his hand to his  
  
forehead.  
  
"Caaaaalllm dooooooown Shindo," Akira said, noticing his friend's distress as he  
  
started to giggle.  
  
//Damn it! I should have noticed sooner!// the blonde thought furiously to himself.  
  
"I think we better go," Hikaru said, taking the drunken Akira by the wrist and  
  
gently leading him out the door. He didn't want anyone else to see him this way.  
  
"Do you want me to come with you?" Saitou-san asked, making as if to get up as  
  
well. Hikaru glared at him.  
  
"No thanks, I think you've done enough," he said.  
  
"Shindo?! Where are you taking me?" Akira asked as he was guided by his friend  
  
out of the bar.  
  
"Back to the room," came the reply.  
  
"I don't want to go back to the room!" the green haired boy protested as he  
  
stumbled over his own feet. It was difficult to walk but Touya had been having fun and  
  
he didn't want it to end.  
  
"Let me go!" he cried out petulantly as he tried to twist his hand free. He looked  
  
down at his hand, finally noticing the tan rough fingers that were wrapped around it.  
  
//Shindo is holding my hand// he thought to himself and a strange warmth  
  
flooded through his body as he found that he no longer cared that he had been so abruptly  
  
taken from his conversation. //He smells so - --// but he quickly caught himself. //What  
  
am I thinking?!?! He's a guy!// Blushing furiously Touya redoubled his efforts to get  
  
away from his rival.  
  
"Don't treat me like a child!" he snapped pulling his hand forcefully from  
  
Shindo's grasp.  
  
"Then stop acting like one!" Hikaru replied angrily. He was losing patience with  
  
his friend now and really didn't care anymore if he was nice or not. Touya slumped  
  
against the wall, his eyes glazed over with liquor. Clearly he wasn't going anywhere  
  
unless someone made him. Frustrated and thoroughly annoyed the blonde reached over  
  
and grabbed Akira by the wrist once more.  
  
"I said don't touch me!" the green haired boy screamed as he pushed Shindo  
  
violently against the wall. Hikaru's head smacked against the stone painfully, the edges  
  
of his vision blackening as his sight blurred. Surprise quickly turned to anger as Shindo  
  
realized what had happened. He didn't care if Akira was drunk or not, no one was going  
  
to do that to him and get away with it.  
  
Touya didn't have time to react as the sleek muscular form of his rival lunged out  
  
at him, knocking him to the pavement. Akira's head bounced as it hit the ground causing  
  
him to cry out in pain. Shindo strattled the intoxicated boy, pinning him to the street, and  
  
using his left arm to pin his rival's back to the ground he raised up his right to punch the  
  
boy's face. Anger burned brightly in Shindo's eyes but as he glared down at his friend's  
  
startled, pain filled expression, his resolve began to crumble.  
  
Akira, after having recovered from the initial shock and pain from being flung  
  
against the hard pavement, was now angrily trying to throw his rival off of him. It was no  
  
use though, considering the slender boy's disadvantage; the blonde haired pro easily  
  
overpowered him. But just like in go, Touya was not going to quit, no matter the odds.  
  
The long haired boy twisted and writhed furiously trying to unpin his arm, which had  
  
been trapped behind his back in the fall, and shove Hikaru off. But knowing this Shindo  
  
simply pressed himself up against his rival harder, making it virtually impossible to free  
  
the hand.  
  
Shindo blushed as he became increasingly aware of the pleasant waves his rival's  
  
movements sent shuddering through his body, causing a throbbing ache below his waist.  
  
"Touya," Hikaru whispered. "Touya, stop it," he said. Akira glared at his rival  
  
harshly but his eyes softened as he saw the pleading look on Hikaru's face.  
  
"I'll get off if you promise not to make any more trouble and just go back to the  
  
hotel," he whispered again. Akira nodded his assent. Slowly Shindo took his arm away  
  
and rolled off his rival. Sighing in relief, he lifted himself off the ground and extended his  
  
hand to his friend, which the other boy grudgingly took. Akira had really caused a lot of  
  
trouble this time. Hikaru smiled slightly. He wasn't going to let him forget it either.  
  
The bleached haired pro draped his friend's arm over his shoulder, supporting him  
  
as they slowly made their way back to the hotel. They walked in silence for sometime,  
  
steadily making progress. Walking side by side, Hikaru could feel Akira's chest rise  
  
and fall heavily with his breathing. //Touya's so warm// he thought to himself as he felt  
  
the heat from the other boy flooding into him. A slight blush tinged his cheeks.  
  
"Hikaru," the other boy whispered hoarsely, wrenching him from his thoughts.  
  
Touya called him by his first name. He had never done that before. "Hikaru" he  
  
whispered again, and the warmth of his rival's breath on his neck made Shindo's cheeks  
  
flush violently. "I - I like you," he said slurring the words slightly as they rolled off his  
  
tongue. Shindo pulled his head back, eyes open wide with surprise as he looked at Akira.  
  
"I like you," the green haired boy repeated matter-of-factly, his emerald eyes boring into  
  
Shindo's gray ones.  
  
"Wha-- " Hikaru began to reply, but his words were abruptly cut off as Touya's  
  
face flushed and his cheeks began to swell as the usually dignified pro leaned over and  
  
promptly threw up.  
  
"I don't feel so well," he said in a quivering voice when he had finished.  
  
"Ugh, Touya! That's so gross!" Hikaru cried out in disgust. "We need to get you  
  
back to the hotel."  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"You know Shindo, I think I'm drunk," Touya said, seemingly surprised by the  
  
realization as they entered their room.  
  
"I think so too," Hikaru grunted, smiling slightly as he gently laid the unsteady  
  
boy on the bed. "Geeze, Touya! You weigh a ton!" Despite his slender frame, Akira was  
  
deceptively heavy.  
  
"Maybe you should take an aspirin before you fall asleep," he heard Waya say  
  
once that when you got drunk you should take a Tylenol before you passed out, that way  
  
you wouldn't have a hangover the next morning. At least it sounded like something Waya  
  
would say. "Touya?" he asked, shaking his friend lightly. It was too late. He was already  
  
asleep.  
  
Hikaru sighed as he stared at the sleeping face of his rival and friend. Funny. He  
  
had been chasing after Akira for so long that he had never bothered to look at his face  
  
before. Oh sure, he had examined it from across a goban on many occasions, searching  
  
for any sign of weakness or hint of emotion, but he had never really looked at it before.  
  
Hikaru blushed fiercely as he caught himself staring at the curve of his rival's slightly  
  
parted lips.  
  
~Hikaru, I like you~ The memory came unbidden to his mind.  
  
//What hell did Touya mean by that anyway?// the blonde thought furiously to  
  
himself. They were friends, of course they liked each other. He turned away, his face  
  
burning with embarrassment. Akira hadn't called him by his family name. He said  
  
'Hikaru' not 'Shindo'.... But that didn't necessarily mean anything. Akari  
  
called him by his first name all the time, and she didn't have any feelings for him ...  
  
not like that at least. Had Touya meant that they were friends? But.... he already  
  
knew that.... Although.... It was true that they had never actually declared their  
  
friendship formally.  
  
~Hikaru, I like you~  
  
//What the hell is that supposed to mean?!?!// he thought again in frustration.  
  
Shindo sighed. Touya had been drunk anyway. He probably wouldn't even  
  
remember it in the morning. It'd be best not to mention it. They'd talk about it if Akira  
  
ever brought it up. Until then.....  
  
Shindo bent down and took off his friend's shoes. He was going to take off his  
  
over shirt too, but blushingly he thought better of it. Taking a blanket from the closet he  
  
covered the sleeping form of his eternal rival and friend and got ready for bed.  
  
**** Um .... I personally have never been drunk so I have no idea what it's like or how much alcohol it takes to get that way. So if my description is off please tell me and I'll fix it. Alright! That's it! PLEASE R&R and if anyone can give any tips on possible ways to make it better I'm all ears!!!***** 


	5. Tears Over a Goban

Note: ~ ~ flashback  
// // thoughts  
  
Akira groaned, his head pulsating in pain. The room was dark except for the soft  
  
light that filtered in through the drawn shades, but even that was too bright. He flung his  
  
arm across his face, shielding his eyes. He really had to go to the bathroom, but he didn't  
  
want to move. BAD THINGS would happen if he moved. But despite his protests, his  
  
bladder was persistent. Touya sighed heavily in frustration as he flung the covers off the  
  
bed. He was surprised to see that, except for his shoes, he was still wearing his clothes  
  
from the previous night. //How did I get here?// he wondered lazily.  
  
He remembered clearly that he had been with Shindo and Saitou-san in that bar.  
  
And he could recall drinking a lot of tea, but things grew hazy after that. He vaguely  
  
remembered there were some men and..... they were laughing.... Then Shindo  
  
was leading him by the wrist ... and Akira did something ......something he  
  
shouldn't have.....And somehow they ended up on the ground and Touya could  
  
remember thinking how good Hikaru smelled and how soft his hair felt as it brushed  
  
against his cheek. And then.... and then....  
  
~Hikaru, I like you.~  
  
His breath caught in his chest as the memory flooded into his mind. Did he....  
  
Did he actually say that?!?! Touya's eyes widened in apprehension. No! No! He may  
  
have thought that but he never NEVER would have said it out loud, and certainly not to  
  
Shindo.  
  
Damn it! He didn't have any sake; how did the hell did this happen?!?! Akira  
  
wondered furiously as he swung his legs off the bed and sat up, an act that he  
  
immediately regretted as he felt the blood rush painfully to his head. The green haired pro  
  
groaned miserably as his stomach lurched and the room began to spin violently. He  
  
steadied himself on the bed and waited for the room and his traitorous stomach to settle.  
  
Maybe if he didn't say anything about it Hikaru would just pass off his confession as the  
  
rantings of an intoxicated lunatic. Besides, Touya might not have even said anything at  
  
all. That would be embarrassing, to explain a confession that never took place. The best  
  
thing to do was not to talk about it unless Shindo brought it up. Akira groaned again. He  
  
couldn't think about Shindo right now. His body was committing mutiny and just getting  
  
to the bathroom without falling over would require all his strength and concentration.  
  
It wasn't until he was halfway across the room that Touya noticed the soft light  
  
creeping out from beneath the bathroom door. //Is Shindo in there?// he wondered,  
  
flushing furiously. The thought made his heart pound. Talking to Hikaru was the last  
  
thing he wanted to do. God only knew what he had said last night and Touya wasn't  
  
prepared to find out just yet. Briefly the thought of groping his way back to his bed and  
  
pretending to be asleep until the other boy left flickered in his mind The thought was a  
  
fleeting one though because as he prepared to turn around the bathroom door swung open,  
  
casting a harsh glare across the green haired boy's already sensitive eyes.  
  
"Ahhhh!" he cried in pain as he flung out an arm to shield his face.  
  
"Touya?!?!" Shindo exclaimed, quickly turning off the lights. "What are you  
  
doing out of bed?"  
  
"Shhh! Not so loud!" he winced.  
  
"Sorry!" Hikaru said, whispering this time. "What are you doing out of bed?" he  
  
repeated softly. Akira felt his cheeks begin to burn behind his arm.  
  
"I have to use the bathroom. Do you have a problem with that?" he replied  
  
harshly, still in pain from the light. He cringed inwardly. He hadn't meant to sound so  
  
irritable. But maybe Shindo would take the hint and leave him alone. No such luck.  
  
"Oh," the other boy answered back, completely oblivious of the edge in his  
  
friend's voice. "I was afraid you were going to puke again."  
  
Akira mouth dropped open, mortified. //I threw up? In front of Shindo?! Just how  
  
drunk was I last night anyway?//  
  
He was about to ask but the words caught in his throat as he removed the arm that  
  
shielded his face and looked at his companion. Shindo was standing in the doorway  
  
completely naked except for the towel that clung loosely around his waist. Touya  
  
swallowed hard as his eyes traced the small beads of water that trickled down the smooth  
  
flat stomach and disappeared under the folds of cloth. He felt something deep inside him  
  
begin to swell.  
  
"Are you going to move, or do you want me to go right here?" Akira snapped  
  
suddenly. The other boy jumped, startled by his friend's words. Even Hikaru had to  
  
notice the hostility in Touya's voice. Quickly he stepped aside and let him pass.  
  
//Damn it! What the hell was I thinking?!?!// Akira asked himself furiously as he  
  
entered the bathroom and shut the door. Shindo was a guy! He ran a nervous hand  
  
through his hair and sat down at the base of the tub. //Why did that idiot have to be here?  
  
Why is he making me....// Touya sighed as let his face fall into his hands. It wasn't  
  
Shindo's fault and he knew it. The other boy just didn't understand. He couldn't  
  
understand...  
  
Touya exhaled morosely as he washed his hands in the sink a few minutes later,  
  
having accomplished what he originally set out to do. It wasn't Shindo's fault. It was  
  
his ..... he shouldn't have snapped at him like that but ..... the green haired pro  
  
couldn't help it. He couldn't control himself, or his emotions. And that made him angry.  
  
"Are you okay, Touya?" Hikaru asked as his friend emerged from the bathroom,  
  
the worry in his voice almost palpable.  
  
"Fine," Akira replied curtly as he saw the other boy sitting on the bed, now fully  
  
dressed. Touya wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed. "What time is it?" he  
  
asked as he sat down on his own bed, trying in vain to expel the unwanted thoughts from  
  
his mind.  
  
"Almost seven," Shindo replied casually. Akira shot up in surprise, and  
  
immediately fell back down again as a surge of nausea and pain overwhelmed him.  
  
"Touya! Calm down!" Shindo cried as her reached over to steady his friend.  
  
"Seven?" the green haired pro repeated dumbly, his head swooning.  
  
"Geeze Touya, relax! I covered for you" the blonde assured his rival. Akira  
  
blinked in surprise.  
  
"What?"  
  
"What do you mean 'what'?" came the reply. "I told everyone you had a stomach  
  
virus and you were resting. Don't worry. I took over your station so you could sleep."  
  
"What did you do that for?!?!" Akira shouted furiously. It hurt to yell but he  
  
didn't care. "You should have woken me up! I could have played, baka!"  
  
" 'Baka'!?!?" Shindo shouted back indignantly, his face bright with anger. "Last  
  
night you get totally wasted and attack me! Then I do you a favor by covering for  
  
you and instead of saying 'thanks' like a normal person you're giving me crap!?!?!"  
  
Akira opened his mouth to reply then snapped shut it again.  
  
Shindo was right.  
  
He should have been grateful that Hikaru let him rest. He felt horrible as it was,  
  
if he had shown up at work today he would have felt at least ten times worse. And he had  
  
been acting like a complete ass since he woke up.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said softly as he bowed his head. "You're right. I put you through  
  
a lot of trouble last night and... Thank you for letting me rest."  
  
Hikaru blinked.  
  
"Y..... You're welcome," he answered dazedly, caught off guard by his  
  
opponent's sudden change of heart. Hikaru looked at his friend and sighed. He shouldn't  
  
have blamed last night on Touya. Sure he had done some pretty stupid things, but he was  
  
only there in the first place because Shindo dragged him along. And Akira did have a  
  
point, the blonde admitted to himself grudgingly. He could have woken him up. Touya  
  
was a professional and Hikaru knew he would have forced himself to go to the  
  
convention hangover or not. But..... it felt nice to be able to do him a favor. After all,  
  
Touya had been putting up with Hikaru for years now and he never really complained.  
  
Ok, so that was a lie but he had never gotten really upset with him either.  
  
"There's some aspirin and a glass of water over on the table," Hikaru said gently,  
  
indicating the nightstand nearby.  
  
"....Thanks"  
  
"What are friends for, right?" he replied lightly. Touya flashed him a weak smile  
  
as he put the pills in his mouth and swallowed.  
  
"Have you eaten yet?" Akira asked almost hesitantly.  
  
"Um... well not yet," the other boy admitted, and as if to prove this point his  
  
stomach let out a loud grumble. Both boys grinned shyly at each other.  
  
"Let me take you out, my treat" Akira said, still smiling "As a thank you."  
  
"How about as an apology?" Hikaru replied, noting that his friend already seemed  
  
to have conveniently forgotten that he owed him one. Touya glared. "A Thank you is  
  
good too though."  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Touya sighed as he sat in front of his meal. Ramen again. //How much ramen can  
  
one person eat?// he wondered in amazement as he watched the boy across from him  
  
shovel yet another mouthful of the stuff onto his chopsticks. Shindo was already on his  
  
third bowl. //This can't be healthy// the prodigy thought, almost hypnotized by the sheer  
  
speed with which Shindo was able to consume food. //He can't possibly be human.//  
  
"Thish ish really goo', " he said looking up from his bowl for the first time since  
  
they sat down. He smiled at his friend, noticing that he was barely half way through his  
  
first bowl. Akira smiled back, noodles hanging out of his mouth. It was disgusting really.  
  
Shindo snorted, pieces of his own meal shooting from his mouth as he tried in vain to  
  
choke back his laughter.  
  
"Shindo! That's disgusting!" Touya said in mock horror. Hikaru replied by  
  
sending a piece of carrot bouncing off Akira's head. The two old women beside them  
  
glared. Slightly subdued, Touya poked at his ramen some more and Shindo, smiling,  
  
shoved another mouthful onto his chopsticks .  
  
"I swear, Myami said she saw a hat-wearing ghost loitering outside of that shrine  
  
on 42nd Street." Touya heard the woman beside him say after she had finished glaring at  
  
the pros.  
  
"You mean the Honinbo Shrine?" her friend asked curiously.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so," came the reply. "I swear that woman gets crazier and crazier  
  
every year...."  
  
"Are you alright, Shindo" Akira asked, concerned. His friend had suddenly  
  
stopped eating and he was staring at the two women sitting beside them. His face had  
  
gone pale.  
  
"Sai...." The blonde whispered and without another warning he jumped up  
  
from the table, knocking his bowl of ramen over in the process. "I have to go," he  
  
shouted as he ran out the door.  
  
"What?! Where?!" his friend yelled after him in surprise. Getting up quickly  
  
Touya riffled through his wallet, threw the money for the ramen down on the table and  
  
followed after his rival.  
  
Hikaru sprinted down the street, weaving in and out of the crowd and  
  
knocking into people without so much as a muffled 'excuse me'. Touya, who  
  
rarely did anything but play go, was finding it extremely difficult to keep up his friend's  
  
frantic pace. For nearly eight blocks he followed the blonde haired boy, but he knew  
  
where he was headed: The Honinbo Shrine. It was common knowledge that Hikaru had  
  
some sort of fixation with Honinbo, but what was it that woman had said had caused the  
  
him to run out so suddenly? //Why are you running, Shindo?// Touya thought to himself  
  
as he anxiously ran after his friend. Finally Shindo stopped. They had reached the shrine.  
  
Pausing in front of its doors, Hikaru stared up at the sign that hung above them.  
  
"Sai...." He whispered again as he ran into the building leaving a breathless  
  
Touya gasping on the sidewalk. Akira, exhausted from the run, followed after his friend  
  
slowly. Shindo was pacing all over the room, looking frantic. Completely confused,  
  
Akira stood on the threshold, watching as his rival continued to search the building  
  
wildly.  
  
An hour later Shindo finally gave up.  
  
"Sai..." he said sadly "I thought maybe...." But he didn't continue.  
  
"Shindo?" Akira asked hesitantly.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"What were you looking for?"  
  
"It - it doesn't matter. He's not here anyway. I knew he wasn't here but I had to  
  
make sure...." Hikaru's voice sounded hollow as he said the words. Listening to it,  
  
something in Akira's chest began to ache.  
  
"Who?" he asked softly.  
  
"It doesn't matter anymore, Touya." Shindo replied. Akira nodded. If Hikaru  
  
wanted to tell him, he would tell him. If he didn't there was no point trying to force it out  
  
of him. "Let's just go back to the hotel," he said.  
  
The walk from the Shrine to the hotel was made in silence; Shindo giving no  
  
explanation for his sudden behavior and Akira asking for none. It was a long walk,  
  
though not so long as it had seemed before. The two strolled side by side but they weren't  
  
really walking together. Hikaru's gaze never left the sidewalk as they made their way  
  
back to the hotel and Touya's never left Shindo. When they got back to the hotel room  
  
the blonde haired pro didn't say a word, but simply sat down on his bed and stared at the  
  
wall lifelessly.  
  
"Shindo?" Akira asked, concerned.  
  
"Yeah?" he replied, looking up at his rival. Touya swallowed hard as he looked  
  
into the soft gray eyes. There was a sadness there that was almost too deep to  
  
comprehend. Seeing him suffering that way, the dull ache that had formed in Akira's  
  
chest exploded into a sharp agonizing pain.  
  
"Let's play a game." He said, willing his voice to stay calm and not quite  
  
succeeding.  
  
Hikaru blinked. "Sure," he said numbly.  
  
It was the only thing Touya could think of. He couldn't bare to see the anguish in those  
  
eyes. He didn't know what had caused it but Touya was sure that, for a while at  
  
least, he could help Shindo forget his pain.  
  
"Nigiri"  
  
Hikaru won black.  
  
"Please," they said in unison as they began to play and both Shindo and Touya  
  
found themselves being drawn into the designs they created on the go board;  
  
forgetting that a world existed beyond the boundaries of the goban and their game. For  
  
hours they played, black and white stones battling fiercely as they formed intricate  
  
patterns across the board, melting into one another and reshaping each other in turn. On  
  
the goban there was no confusion; there were no misunderstandings. A person's go told  
  
you all you needed to know, it revealed their soul . Questions asked with stones were  
  
answered in turn. On the goban men were gods, creating and destroying galaxies with a  
  
single hand. And here Touya and Shindo were equals.  
  
"It's you," Akira whispered as Hikaru put his last stone in place, three hours later.  
  
"Huh?" his opponent replied. For hours the only noise to fill the room had been  
  
the soft 'pachi' of their stones and their voices sounded harsh in contrast.  
  
"It's you," he repeated again, louder this time.  
  
"Who else would it be?" Hikaru asked almost indignantly, his pain forgotten in  
  
the battle.  
  
"I mean it's the old you" the green haired boy replied softly "The one who played  
  
me that first game...." Hikaru looked at his rival, shock and sadness mingling across  
  
his face.  
  
"That -- that wasn't me," he said looking down after a long moment, his bangs  
  
falling in front of his face. "That was..." his voice trailed off.  
  
"But it is you," Touya replied. "It's your go. Your go is what you are." Akira said  
  
softly as he stared at the game they had just played. There was a striking, almost  
  
terrifying beauty to the intertwined pearl and ebony designs etched out across the board  
  
and he felt a thrilling heat in his stomach as he studied what he and Shindo had created.  
  
Only Hikaru, only Hikaru could answer Akira in this way. He looked across the go board  
  
at his rival and his equal, unable to see his face through the thick shroud of hair. But the  
  
veil could not hide the tear from Touya as it struck the goban.  
  
Shindo was crying.  
  
"Shindo? Shindo, what's wrong?" he asked, but there was no response. The  
  
blonde haired boy just sat there staring at the floor, tears streaming from his eyes.  
  
//Idiot!// Touya silently berated himself. His plan had worked. It had worked!  
  
Hikaru had forgotten his pain but.... but something Touya said reminded him of it.  
  
"Shindo, why are you crying?" he asked again, the worry in his voice was  
  
beginning to turn into panic. In all the years they had known each other, Touya had never  
  
seen Hikaru cry. It was terrifying.  
  
"Answer me!!!" he yelled, his voice shaking. But the other boy made no reply. He  
  
just continued to sit there, crying silently. Touya didn't know what to do. He only knew  
  
that he needed to reach Shindo. Sliding the goban that separated them away, Touya  
  
inched closer to the crying boy kneeling before him.  
  
"Shindo, please..." He pleaded, bending lower as he gently cupped his rival's  
  
face in his hands, but it was no use. There was nothing he could say to erase the anguish  
  
in those eyes. There were no words that could make Hikaru understand that his pain hurt  
  
the other boy too, that every moment he suffered a part of Akira died. There was nothing  
  
he could say that could make the tears stop coming. So Akira didn't say anything. Instead  
  
he leaned down and gently brushed Hikaru's lips against his own.  
  
Shindo stopped crying.  
  
**** Um... This was a little longer than I meant it to be... a little heavier on the angst too. Sorry. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!!! I've never written a fanfic before, so I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing. Criticize to you're heart's content! I really appreciate the feed back! Thank you!!!!!! :D************* 


	6. The Experiment

Sorry it took me so long! I already had a pretty good idea about how I wanted to end this but....... I graduated last week *squeals with joy* and my family came down from all over! There were tons of preparations, celebrations etc. and it was just very hectic these past few days. Anyway! This is the last chapter *smile* I hope you like it! Thanks to everyone who took their time and sent in reviews! I LOVED READING THEM!!! Hehehe. I probably wouldn't have written this much without them! Some of those reviews really REALLY helped me out too! Thank you guys SO MUCH! Ok I'm done ranting here it is:  
  
Oh! P.S. I didn't do this before but I guess I should: "Hikaru No Go" is in no way mine.*sigh* (thanks for reminding me) I love it, I read it, and now I write crappy fanfics about it, but other than that I'm not involved at all.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Hikaru stiffened in surprise as he felt the soft lips awkwardly press against his  
  
own. All thoughts of Sai were violently driven from his mind as his entire being focused  
  
on that one point of contact. In fact, all thoughts were swept from his mind entirely,  
  
except for one:  
  
//What the hell?!?//  
  
But even this small flicker was erased as the other boy suddenly pulled away as  
  
unexpectedly as he had leaned in. Sitting back on his heels with a jolt, the wide eyed  
  
Touya Akira looked even more startled than the tear streaked Shindo. The two sat there in  
  
utter silence, looking at each other for a long moment.  
  
"I - -- I'm sorry," Akira whispered hoarsely, breaking the awkward silence. "I  
  
didn't mean to - --" his voice faltered. Akira stared at his rival in alarm while Hikaru in  
  
turn gaped at him blankly, too surprised to say anything. "I won't bother you again. I  
  
should go," he managed to stammer after a long moment. Quickly, he got up to leave,  
  
visibly shaken.  
  
Hikaru raised his hand to his mouth, absently tracing his fingers over his lips  
  
where his rival had kissed him. A light blush tinged his cheeks as he remembered the  
  
encounter. The sound of the door as it slammed shut knocked Hikaru from his stupor.  
  
"Touya?" he asked weakly, still kneeling on the floor. //Where did he go?// he  
  
thought to himself as he lowered his head stare at the floor.  
  
~ I won't bother you again.~  
  
Hikaru lifted his head suddenly. //What did he mean by that?// he wondered anxiously as  
  
he swiftly made to get up, an act that took three attempts by the slightly disturbed pro  
  
with the very numb legs.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Akira leaned against the door to the room heavily, remembering the look on his  
  
rival's face. He knew what it was that had marked Hikaru's smooth, innocent features. It  
  
was shock; it was disgust. Akira swallowed hard as he felt his chest tighten. What had  
  
possessed him to do that?!?! In an instant he had managed to ruin the longest real  
  
friendship he'd ever have. The ONLY real friendship he'd ever had.  
  
He suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to get away from the room. Pushing off  
  
the door quickly he began to walk down the long and lonely hallway. He had lost the  
  
person who mattered most to him in the entire world; the only person whose brilliance  
  
and passion for go rivaled his own. Touya stopped dead, a look of sheer terror painted  
  
across his face.  
  
//What if he won't play me anymore?//  
  
The thought was even more painful than the idea of losing his best friend. He  
  
remembered his life before the blonde entered it. Go hadn't been boring but Shindo gave  
  
it a light, an energy all its own that engulfed Akira and excited him. It wasn't as  
  
satisfying or, he had to admit, as fun without a rival, an equal, to experience it with.  
  
Hikaru was the only person who understood the way his mind worked well enough to  
  
really answer him on a goban. //Oh God!// he thought, his vision beginning to blur as hot  
  
tears stung his eyes. //Please, PLEASE let him at least play me again!// The idea of never  
  
speaking to Shindo again was painful enough, he didn't know if he could bear it if the  
  
other boy refused to battle him. It was only when he was playing against Shindo that he  
  
ever felt at peace. It was only against Shindo that he ever felt complete. Only Shindo  
  
could make him feel that way. And he might never feel that way again. Akira felt his  
  
heart beating against his chest, he was starting to panic.  
  
The long haired pro was so engrossed in his own thoughts and despair that he  
  
didn't even hear it as a hotel room door opened and closed.  
  
"Touya?" Akira jumped, startled. He knew that voice and he felt a wave of dread  
  
wash over him. He should have left more quickly, but he honestly hadn't expected  
  
Shindo to come after him so soon. Or ever for that matter. Akira turned around to look at  
  
his rival.  
  
Looking at Shindo's smooth face, his hair matted down against his damp cheeks,  
  
Touya felt his heart begin to throb. Even red and swollen his grey eyes were  
  
beautiful. The green haired pro swallowed hard, willing his voice to remain cold and  
  
unfeeling.  
  
"I apologize," Akira said formally after a moment, pressing his arms close to his  
  
sides as he bowed. "It was inappropriate and it will never happen again." He said coolly.  
  
"Touya - --" the blonde began, but his words were quickly cut off.  
  
"I promise."  
  
Hikaru felt his chest tighten at these words and his friend's distant demeanor.  
  
"Why?" He couldn't help but ask. He wanted to know. He needed to know.  
  
Akira sighed as he tried valiantly to ignore the sharp pain in his chest. Shindo  
  
deserved an answer and knowing how stubborn the boy could be, Akira was sure that he  
  
wouldn't quit until he got one either. The sooner he gave it to him the sooner this would  
  
be over.  
  
"I don't know," Akira answered truthfully, looking down at the floor. "You just  
  
seemed so sad." He continued, apparently fascinated by his shoes.  
  
"Oh, is that all?" Hikaru whispered; Touya looked up, startled by the note of  
  
disappointment in the other boy's voice.  
  
"Did you want me say something else?" he probed, trying to quash the feeling of  
  
hope that had begun to grow madly in his chest. Shindo's cheeks turned a soft shade of  
  
pink.  
  
"N - --no! I was just wondering." He answered, now also apparently fascinated  
  
by his shoes. There was a long pause. // Why does it have to be so damn quite!// Hikaru  
  
wondered in agitation, forgetting that it was now well after midnight. When it became  
  
apparent that the blonde was not going to say anything more Akira sighed, feeling the  
  
hope in his chest begin to die.  
  
"I'm very sorry Shindo. I didn't mean to upset you." He paused. "It won't happen  
  
again. I promise," he said and turned to walk away as quickly as he could without  
  
actually running. A fierce cold was beginning to seep into his stomach, numbing him.  
  
//Just keep moving// he told himself, determined not to betray any emotion on his face.  
  
"Touya, wait!" Hikaru called after him, realizing the other boy was trying to end  
  
their conversation. But the green haired pro ignored him and continued to make his way  
  
swiftly down the deserted corridor. Hikaru ran after him; reaching out he caught his rival  
  
by the wrist.  
  
"Akira," he said tightening his grip around the other boy's hand. The green haired  
  
pro stopped. Shindo had never called him by his given name before. His breath caught in  
  
his throat.  
  
"You didn't - -- I'm not upset," Hikaru whispered self consciously. Slowly Touya  
  
turned around to face his rival, hope and confusion warring inside him for dominance.  
  
His gaze lowered to where the blonde was gripping him. Shindo dropped the hand  
  
quickly as he realized what he was doing.  
  
"Sorry. I was just... surprised, that's all. I mean ... I  
  
haven't... not really- --" his voice died and Hikaru began scratching his  
  
head nervously, looking anywhere but at the boy in front of him.  
  
"Was that your first kiss?" Touya asked hesitantly, his tone laced with a hint of  
  
mild surprise.  
  
"What?! No!" the other boy shot back indignantly, blushing fiercely. It wasn't as  
  
if he had never been kissed before. Hikaru frowned slightly remembering how his first  
  
kiss had been stolen from him. It had felt, strangely enough, like he was kissing his aunt;  
  
it wasn't pleasant. Hikaru shook his head. That had been six months ago and Touya  
  
already knew all about it.  
  
"That girl at the Wakasi convention doesn't count!" Touya replied with irritation,  
  
seeming to read his friend's thoughts. Hikaru's blush deepened.  
  
"It's none of your damn business!" he shouted heatedly.  
  
"It was just a question!"  
  
"It's a personal question, and it's NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Hikaru  
  
bellowed.  
  
"Don't get so defensive!" came the loud reply.  
  
"How am I supposed to get?!?! I don't have much practice with this kind of  
  
thing!" the blonde yelled quite defensively.  
  
"Well it's not like I've had a lot of practice either!" Akira shouted in response,  
  
forgetting the people asleep in the rooms on either side of the hallway. Both boys were  
  
abruptly reminded, however, when the door to their right swung open widely, revealing a  
  
bleary eyed and slightly agitated Isumi.  
  
"Oh God!" he groaned seeing the two rivals arguing in the hallway. Last year had  
  
been bad enough, couldn't they let him at least rest in peace this time? "They've started  
  
bringing their discussions out into the hallway." He mumbled sadly to himself. Both boys  
  
had the grace to blush. They hadn't meant to wake anyone up. The door down the hall  
  
opened wide too, slamming loudly as it smacked against the wall.  
  
"Shindo! Touya! Shut the hell up and go to bed!" the drowsy form of Waya, his  
  
hair tousled from sleep, yelled out loudly in fierce irritation. He glared angrily at the two  
  
friends, his eyes resting on Touya far longer than on Hikaru. Akira shifted his feet in mild  
  
discomfort.  
  
"Please, PLEASE go back to your room." Isumi begged. Akira and Hikaru passed  
  
each other a quick glance and nodded.  
  
"I apologize for disturbing you," the green haired pro replied politely.  
  
"Stop pretending to be so f***king polite all the time!" Waya growled. "If you  
  
were half as proper as you think you are you wouldn't be waking people up at all hours of  
  
the night!" Isumi gave the red head a pained look as Shindo stood there, mouth gaping  
  
open at a loss for words. "Yeah, yeah, yeah" the sleepy, irritable pro mumbled seeing his  
  
two friends' expressions. "Apology accepted," he said waving his hand dismissively at  
  
the troublesome pair. And with that he slammed his door shut.  
  
"I don't think Waya-kun likes me very much," the prodigy mumbled to himself.  
  
"He's just tired," Isumi said as he flashed him a forced smile, although truthfully  
  
the older pro didn't like him very much at the moment either.  
  
"Sorry Isumi," Hikaru said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.  
  
"I'll forgive you if you'll just go to bed," his friend replied, exhausted.  
  
"Oh, yeah! Sure!" Hikaru said with a start, suddenly remembering how late it was  
  
as he took his rival by the wrist and led him gently back towards their room. "Good night,  
  
Isumi!" he said, waving cheerfully. Akira didn't say a word, formalities forgotten as he  
  
stared at Hikaru's hand closed around his own. But Isumi didn't notice because he had  
  
already given a half hearted wave in return and entered his room, where he promptly fell  
  
back asleep.  
  
"Geeze, why did you have to be so loud Touya?" Hikaru asked in annoyance as  
  
he gracelessly plopped down on his bed. Akira gave him a hard glare.  
  
"You were the one who was being loud, Shindo," he replied coolly. Hikaru lifted  
  
his head to look at him, a slight scowl on his face.  
  
"It was your fault to begin with! Asking a guy a personal question like that!" he  
  
said indignantly, raising his voice as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed. There was an  
  
awkward pause as they remembered why they had been fighting in the first place. Hikaru  
  
blushed slightly as he became aware of where they were. Akira looked towards the  
  
window, although the shades were still tightly drawn. Neither one said anything.  
  
"Yes," the blonde whispered after a long moment, slicing through the oppressive  
  
stillness of the room. If it weren't for the intense silence Akira, who stood no more than  
  
five feet away from the boy on the bed, would not have even heard him.  
  
"Huh?" he asked, turning his head to look at Shindo. He seemed slightly puzzled  
  
by the statement.  
  
"Yes. It was - -- That was my first... I mean, I've never - -- I've never  
  
been kissed before," he mumbled staring at the hands clasped on his lap. "If you don't  
  
count the girl at the Wakasi convention I mean," he said, raising his pearly gray eyes to  
  
meet Akira's emerald ones almost defiantly.  
  
"Oh," the other boy answered. Hikaru thought he saw a small smile flicker across  
  
his rival's face, but he might have been wrong because it was quickly replaced by an  
  
intensely pensive expression that Shindo had never seen except across a goban. "What  
  
did you think? I mean about the - --" he paused awkwardly. "About the kiss?" Touya  
  
continued, his tongue struggling as it formed the last word. Hikaru turned away as he felt  
  
the heat of embarrassment rising to his cheeks.  
  
What was he supposed to say? That he liked it? That he hated it? What answer did  
  
Touya want? Hikaru didn't want to lose their friendship, and he didn't think he could  
  
handle losing their rivalry. Some where along the way he had come to need Touya, to see  
  
him and to be near him. And Hikaru was never as close to the other boy as when a goban  
  
was between them. It was there that he exposed his soul, his true self. It was  
  
there that Akira knew Sai's presence in Hikaru's life. Only Akira knew it. Only him.  
  
Hikaru didn't wasn't sure he could stand it if Akira didn't want to be his friend anymore.  
  
But he KNEW he couldn't bear it if Touya didn't like his answer and decided not to play  
  
him again. Not being able to share Sai with him, or see the boy's complex and  
  
methodically beautiful answers to Shindo's stones... it was too much. But the truth  
  
was that he didn't know what he thought about the... kiss. His blush deepened.  
  
"I - -- I'm not sure what I think," he replied carefully after a long pause. "I was  
  
really surprised. I mean before I even knew what was happening it was over." He  
  
mentally hit himself. Hikaru had a tendency to ramble when he was nervous. And he was  
  
definitely nervous. Hell, he thought he might throw up any minute now. But with Touya  
  
he wanted to be extremely careful with his words. //What now?// he thought to himself  
  
anxiously.  
  
A long stream of air escaped Akira's mouth. Touya blinked, surprised to realize  
  
he had been holding his breath. //What now?// the green haired pro wondered as he  
  
looked at his rival.  
  
"What did you think?" the blonde asked after a moment, trying to fill the  
  
awkward pause in the conversation. "A- about the kiss I mean?"  
  
"I don't know, either," Akira answered truthfully. After all, It wasn't like he  
  
had planned on kissing Shindo. He may have idly wondered what it would be like at  
  
times but...  
  
//Damn it!// Touya thought angrily as he mentally slapped himself. This was  
  
getting them no where and it couldn't be as easily ignored as a confession that may or  
  
may not have taken place. They were both completely sober, and the kiss had definitely  
  
happened.  
  
"I really wasn't planning on it," he continued after a moment. "As soon as I  
  
realized what was going on I stopped."  
  
"Oh"  
  
There was another awkward silence. Touya shrugged to himself haphazardly.  
  
The damage had already been done. He might as well ask.  
  
"Do you want to - -- I mean maybe try it again, just to see?" Akira looked at  
  
Hikaru, surprised that the other boy had beaten him to the question. Touya lifted his gaze,  
  
startled to see the attentive and, maybe hopeful? stare of his rival.  
  
"Maybe just to see," the other boy agreed immediately. He cursed himself for  
  
sounding too eager, but Shindo didn't seem to notice. He had already stood up from the  
  
bed to meet him. Akira blinked, slightly surprised by his rival speed. The blonde grinned  
  
sheepishly at his own impatience.  
  
"Ok?" Shindo asked, uncertainly.  
  
"Hai," came the response. The two leaned in closer to one another, awkwardly  
  
tilting their heads as their noses and foreheads collided.  
  
"Ouch!! Touya, watch what you're doing!" Hikaru scolded, rubbing his nose.  
  
"You really haven't had a lot of practice with this either, huh?" he said, his lips twitching  
  
as he tried, with only marginal success, to suppress a grin. Akira blushed.  
  
"Well, excuse me Mr. 'Yuck -some -weird -girl -tried -to -swallow -my -  
  
tongue'!" Touya shot back causing his friend's cheeks to turn crimson.  
  
"I can't tell you anything without you using it against me!" the blonde shouted  
  
angrily, pointing a finger at his rival. Akira sighed.  
  
"Just stand still, ok?" Touya said, he was becoming impatient and the small  
  
argument had allowed him to let off some nervous tension. Hikaru gulped, he was  
  
growing less and less certain about this. But he had been the one to suggest it, he  
  
reminded himself. He couldn't back out now. He cursed silently.  
  
"Alright," he said, glad to hear his voice didn't betray his uncertainty.  
  
Akira studied his friend. Shindo was obviously nervous. In fact he might go so far  
  
to say that the other boy was terrified. Touya swallowed. That wasn't a good sign.  
  
"Are you sure?" he asked gently. Hikaru gave a stiff nod. "Ok," came the green  
  
haired pro's response and he put one hand on his rival's waist and rested the other on his  
  
shoulder. He felt Shindo's body go rigid under his hands.  
  
"This won't hurt. Trust me," Akira purred as he tried to comfort the nervous boy  
  
who faced him. Hikaru felt a strange shiver of desire run down his spine at the sound  
  
Touya's husky voice as it resounded softly in his ear. Shindo placed his hands around  
  
the other boy's waist in response, surprised to find the hard muscular body under the polo  
  
shirt even as he noted how soft and warm Akira still managed to feel beneath his finger  
  
tips.  
  
Hikaru sucked in his breath lightly as he closed his eyes, preparing for the kiss. It  
  
seemed as though an eternity passed before anything happened. He was about to take a  
  
step back and open his eyes when Shindo felt his rival's breath on his cheek, just before  
  
their mouths made contact.  
  
Hikaru was surprised to find how soft Akira's lips were as they pressed against  
  
his own. He parted his mouth slightly as he felt the other boy's tongue gently caress his  
  
lips and let it slip into the opening. Akira flicked his tongue against the roof of Hikaru's  
  
mouth as he explored the foreign terrain. //This is kinda nice.// the blonde thought to  
  
himself as he allowed the other boy to press against him more closely. //Very nice.//  
  
A soft moan of pleasure caught in Shindo's throat as the other boy's tongue  
  
tentatively began to massage his own.  
  
Gently, Akira pulled out of the kiss.  
  
"How was that?" he asked, hesitantly. He had heard Hikaru's groan and afraid  
  
that he was hurting the other boy or that Shindo simply wanted him to stop Akira decided  
  
to end the kiss there, although it took every ounce of his self control to make his body  
  
obey.  
  
Hikaru's eyes fluttered open, glazed over in pleasure. The blonde haired pro  
  
licked his lips softly, savoring the sweet taste his rival left lingering in his mouth. He  
  
made no reply but his gaze never wavered from Akira's mouth. Without a word Shindo  
  
closed the small gap between their faces and pressed himself against the other boy once  
  
more.  
  
It was Akira's turn to be surprised as he felt his rival's tongue brushing against his  
  
lips a moment before it entered his mouth. It was hard to believe Shindo had never done  
  
this before. The smooth, rhythmic motions the other boy's tongue made as it massaged  
  
his own sent waves of warmth rippling down his spine. Hikaru leaned deeper into the  
  
embrace, lowering Akira onto the bed. He ran his hand through Touya's silky hair.  
  
"I think," the blonde said breathing heavily as he fumbled with the other boy's  
  
belt. "I think I like it." Akira looked up at him and grinned evilly.  
  
"I've had better," he said nonchalantly.  
  
"What?!?!" came the predictably loud and annoyed reply. The green haired  
  
boy's smile widened.  
  
"Baka," he breathed as he tugged on Hikaru's shirt, pulling him into another kiss.  
  
"Akira?"  
  
"Hmmm?" he moaned, slightly irritated by absence of his partner's warm and  
  
deliciously soft lips.  
  
"Call me Hikaru, Ok?" Akira smiled as his friend, his rival, his equal,  
  
his ... everything looked down at him softly.  
  
"Hai, Hikaru." came the answer as he captured the other boy's lips hungrily in  
  
his mouth and they embraced each other again.  
  
~The End~  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
ummm.. How was that for an ending? Like I've said about a million and two times I've never done this before (just incase you forgot *rolls eyes*) so I wasn't sure how to end it. Tell me what you think so I can fix it in future fics. Oh and if you think I should be FINED if I decide to write any future fics, let me know that too. So I can SMACK you. (just kidding.. Mostly ^_^) Just tell me why. Ok? Thanks! Bye! 


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